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July 14, 2014

Well, I haven’t had a post in a while, you ask why, well I
fell completely off the training track, and it wasn’t just a short fall, but I rolled
all the way down the mountain, not a real mountain, but you get the point.I had knee surgery in late December and was
on crutches until March.I finally got
back to running and riding in March, but it was a really slow recovery.I am not fully recovered, but I am back on
the training plan and now in taper mode for Ironman Lake Placid.

I know you wonder how I could even possibly think about
doing an Ironman on 5 months of training, starting with no base.Well here’s the deal, you have to register
for the Ironman race a year in advance, when I registered I had no idea that a
month later I would blow out my knee.And if you know me, you know how cheap I am, there is no way I’m paying
$750 dollars to race and then not show up.

So with the help of Ironman Bill Peterson, I learned to
train with an injury, using a recovery training plan he gave me and I got back
on the training track.Not to say that I
didn’t freak out multiple times and whine about how there is no way I would
ever be ready on time.I had a few
really bad long workouts at first, one time I even had to walk the last mile
back to my car, then laid down in the grass and could not get back up due to
every muscle in my body locking up.It
was actually quite a sight, me trying to roll over on my belly and push myself
up off the ground. I was more than
frustrated at that time, with doubts running through my head.

Lucky for me, I have way more good friends than I deserve
to have.As I continued to do my long
runs and swims with Bill, more and more of our friends came out to help us
train.

Some of the Training Crew

We always had 8 or so people out swimming at 5:15 am,
then others that came out on Thursday mornings at 4:15 am to run.On long run days friends would come and go
based on the miles they wanted to run, we always had 4 to 6 people show up to
run with us.Oh and during the week,
there was always an excess of people out to do core workouts, shorts runs and
bike with us.

We even started having a debriefs in the lake after long
runs, it was the best part of the entire run.I would love to tell you what we talked about during those runs, but I’m
not sure I can put that on the internet and the rule is, what is said on the
trail stays on the trail.Makes you want
to come run with us doesn’t it.

Debrief in Progress

I am confident that I am in the best shape I have ever
been in for an Ironman race, even though when I compare the Lake Placid course
to the Wisconsin course (Wisconsin was my last Ironman race), It is a much
tougher course, Bill did not tell me that Lake Placid is the 3rd
hardest IM course in the world when he said you have to do Lake Placid.

Lake Placid Run Course compared to Wisconsin IM

Lake Placid Bike Course compared to Wisconsin IM

The race is 12 days away, I think I’m as ready as I could
possibly be, I may still be limping at some points, but it’s bearable. None of this would be possible without my Orthopedist
(Dr Bicalho) who I know I frustrate to no end.To my friend Mark who made it a point to be available to pull my slow
butt all over Madison County, especially on days that I did not want to ride. To
what I call my Zilla Ironman Training Team, all those people that show up at
ungodly hours of the morning to workout with me (Jenny, Jim, Jeff, Amy, Russ,
Bill, Doug, Mike and so many more). To my super Ironman Coach, Bill who always
had faith in my ability and always kept me in check so that I wouldn’t blow up
during those long training days.Last
but not least to my family who never complained about all the time I spent
training and worked their schedules around my training plan for the last 5
months.

I think all this effort deserves recognition and I hope
that every time one of these people jump out of the water they think of the
great times we had training for this race. And I know that many of them will be
at Lake Placid next year and they can count on me to help them train for it.

Only the Toughest have this

Bring on Lake Placid because everything will be ok, Bill,
Russ and I will be an Ironman.